This series of work was created in 1997 in response to the discovery in 1991 of the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. I often refer to them as my shroud pieces because archeological evidence indicates that individuals who were buried there had been wrapped in shrouds closed with copper pins.

I thought of the pieces as a kind of homage to those lives – and the lack of recognition for their history and contributions – and I found myself patching together these mixed media works that addressed their presence.

I constructed the poetic text fragments and embedded them in layers of beeswax on the water-colored painted surface. I wanted them to stand as figures – reminders of those who lived ordinary and sometimes heroic lives.

It was my intention to make them quiet, beautiful, and haunting.